This week as I came across the Baudelaire reading titled “Modernity-Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” I was not quite sure what to expect. I had already read the “Painter of Modern Life” and was having trouble understanding exactly what is was I was reading. Only two sentences, as confused as I was I finally understood something. Baudelaire quickly wrapped up everything I felt uneasy about in one sentence. “ To be modern is to find ourselves in an environment that promises us adventure, power, joy, growth, transformation of ourselves and the world- and at the same time that threatens to destroy everything we have, everything we know, everything we are.” (15) This brief but explicit sentence really opened up my eyes to the modern world. As we discussed in class once you are aware of this it is much easier to point it out in daily life. Since I don’t live close to home I make it a top priority to stay in touch with my friends and family, but sometimes I find it nearly impossible and that is because of the society we live in. As Baudelaire says we live in a society where we can grow but also where we can be destroyed. Sometimes just the simple lack of communication for me with my friends and family from home seems treacherous and I wonder how and why that is, but then I realize that everything good is compromised in this modern world. However, more obviously as I found myself wondering around the Prime Outlets Friday I noticed the many signs that read “vintage chic” in the windows of the stores. Again, as we discussed in class comes the “re-invention” idea of our day and age. By re-inventing things, like making clothes look old from a past decade or even more we are obviously selling the “new us” as a society and as individuals who follow. So although Baudelaire helped me understand modernity the reinvention of the past still seems to concern me in some ways.
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